Dayton Children’s welcomes final patients to penthouse of new tower

Dayton Children’s moves dozens of patients to brand new rooms on the seventh and eighth floor of the new patient tower. The first child on each floor “cut the gauze” to officially open the unit without ever having to leave their bed. Each child also received a blanket as well as a pillowcase, proclaiming them the first patient ever in their room.

This move allows more children access to the highest level of health care technology available supported by an expert and compassionate care team. These floors are dedicated to specialty pediatrics, with specific conditions on each floor. Grouping patients into care families allows staff to specialize in these conditions, improving care and outcomes. The expanded space also allows families in older units in the hospital to have rooms to themselves, when previously they may have had to share.

Each first patient on the new floor got to "cut the gauze" to officially open the new unit.

The design theme of the tower is “things that fly” to honor Dayton’s rich aviation heritage and innovation in flight. Floor seven’s icon is a blue shooting star and it is dedicated to serving patients who are hospitalized for surgeries as well as orthopaedic, neurologic and endocrine conditions. There are special monitoring rooms for epilepsy patients, as well as custom designed spaces to rebuild strength after surgery or orthopaedic procedures.

On the eighth floor, the icon is an orange rocket ship. Gastroenterology and pulmonary patients including children with cystic fibrosis are treated on this top floor. Special monitoring spaces for gastroenterology conditions as well as ceiling mounted lifts help provide the highest level of care.

The move was choreographed in a precision operation, moving patients from three units to three other units with help from HTS, a company that specializes in transition planning.

"Each space inside the new patient care tower was created to embody Dayton Children’s unique patient care mission and to facilitate the delivery of world-class pediatric care," says Deborah Feldman, president and CEO. "Patients, families, physicians and staff all gave input to create an operationally efficient, supportive environment that includes a flexible and innovative technology infrastructure."